. . . edited with Photoshop

My blogfriend, Martha Marshall, tries out variations on her art using Photoshop and I have been intrigued by this . . . seems like it would save a lot of time and paint . . . so I scanned in part of the 12 x 12 canvas and played with it in Photoshop. The above is one of the variations I came up with. What fun. But I have a long way to go in order to learn all the cool tricks that are available. This was just one of the color schemes I was able to create. I need to figure out how to better create shapes . . . I'm doing this without the benefit of any instructions or manual. Seems like there are plenty of on-line sites on which to learn this, and I will, because this is just too much fun. I'm thinking if I combine this technique with Golden's new line of inkjet printer-friendly mediums, I will be able to print on a variety of surfaces. So then I can have an original painting, as well as the digitally-enhanced prints. What a deal.

Today's Kansas City Star featured a couple of noteworthy articles:

(1) Four area art collectors that mainly purchase art from local artists. I think I need to hook up with those people . . . now I just have to figure out how to do that.

(2) I think I have mentioned the only design blog that I read regularly is Mrs. Blandings. The house & home section featured an interview with Pat Shackleford, who is the doppelganger of Mrs. Blandings. She is so cute . . . and I always enjoy her blog, as well as her writing in Spaces, a Kansas City-based lifestyle magazine.

(3) Also in the H&H section, an article about the resurgence in popularity of porches. I have previously posted a picture of the house I grew up in. That Victorian house has a front porch that curves around two sides of the house. We kids used that porch for everything . . . from playing "mother may I" to climbing the posts to get to the roof to sleeping out there on hot summer nights. My current house has what I call a back porch, which is an extension of the deck that is covered. I love it out there; I can barely stand to be inside on even the hottest days. I would rather be on the porch. And my neighbors Janet just had her father screen in her new back porch, and she has decorated it with outdoor rattan furniture with red cushions and accents. Very pretty and useful. She was one of the reasons I am revamping my shade garden . . . I wanted her to have something prettier to look at from her porch.